Want to cut down on your food waste? Here are a few tips, according to Food First NL

There are some simple solutions for cutting down the amount of food that gets tossed out, says a St. John's-based group offering up tips and tricks to cut down household food waste.

Globally, about one-third of all food is lost or wasted about 1.3 trillion tonnes, says Ashley Byrne, research and resource co-ordinator at Food First NL.

"In Canada, almost $31 billion worth of food is wasted every year, and in fact Canada is one of the worst for wasting food," she said.

"Each person in Newfoundland produces 4.5 pounds of waste per dayand of that, 30 per cent is organic waste, so that includes food waste."

Those statistics are put together from study results by the Commission for Environmental Co-operation, which released a report in 2017, theFood and Agricultural Organization, and Rethink Waste NL.

If you're one of the many people who end up tossing food in the garbage, whether because it's expired or spoiled, Byrne has some tips on how you can Marie Kondo your groceries.

"Fridge organization, freezer organization and even cupboard organization really help when looking at reducing food waste, because knowing what's there and using it up can help you reduce food waste, because you're using up what you already have," she said.

That's why Food First NL has released a fridge and freezer inventory list, a simple solution: a dry-erase board where you can list items stored, and erase them as you use them.

"A lot of things get put in the freezer, and then you just put more stuff in the freezer and you losetrack of what's in the back," Byrne said.

"So a freezer inventory list will help you keep track of what's actually in there and then the dates, it's in there, so you can try to use it up and use it when it's still relatively fresh and still has that good quality of taste."

Money, time and energy lost

Meal prep is a huge help, Byrne said, and planning out what you'll cook for a week before heading to the store, and only buying what you need, will save you both money and waste.

"If you think about how much money you do throw away in your food waste, the food that is perfectly good when it goes into your fridge," she said.

"Then you just never get around to eating it.All that food is not only money, but it's also the time and energy put into producing it, harvesting itand also preparing that food as well."

Since a lot of the produce that comes in to Newfoundland and Labrador takes a while to get here on boats and trucks, Byrne said, it often shows up less than fresh.

Byrne said Food First NL hopes to get people thinking about what's grown locally instead, by creating a buy-local seasonal guide.

"That helps you know what's in season and what you can buy locally, and by doing that it actually means that the food is often fresher because it's not travelling such long distances to get to us," she said.

Food First NL organized a workshop at the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John's for Wednesday night that sold out its limited number of seats.

But Byrne said anyone interested in learning more about ways to cut down on food waste, or looking to host an information session, can get in touch with the organization for help.

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